


Stand By Me

by goddamnitkastlewrites



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, So this is where my deranged musical theatre lover side comes out, also I stole a lot of isms from Static Electricity by Neil Hilborn, but go listen to it if you haven't it's such a good poem, so there's that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-13 11:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11184465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddamnitkastlewrites/pseuds/goddamnitkastlewrites
Summary: First posted to goddamnitkastle.tumblr.com on September 6, 2016.The original summary is below:"Alright a few notes before we start:1. This was hopefully going to be a part of a full length, canon divergence The Bridges of Madison County/Kastle AU. But damn it writing is hard so this is all I got, a small section/the dance scene. It can stand one its own for sure and heck, not relate back to The Bridges of Madison County but I hope you’ll Wiki/YouTube the novel, film version or musical version before you read it just to get the idea of why this AU is crushing my soul.2. The dance scene is more based on the musical version so sorry if it’s not like the novel or movie version.3. I did write an outline though so I will link that here if anyone wants to take it from here. I may or may not need this fanfic like I need air.4. Florence + The Machine’s cover of Stand By Me by Ben E. King was the main reason I chose the song. I’d like to think Karen and Frank are dancing to that version but to keep in it canon (cause Frank loves golden oldies music duh) it’s the original.You may now proceed. Enjoy!"





	Stand By Me

Karen stood in front of the mirror, smoothing out the dress she had on. Why the hell was she so nervous? She invited him to dinner. Told him to dress up if he’d like. Shit, they had dinner together last night. And yet first date jitters clawed inside her stomach, throat, and hands.

She tucked her hair behind her left ear and saw that she was still barefoot. Should she dig out her heels from her closet for this? It was just her apartment and he was just here yesterday. But it honestly felt like a lifetime ago. Frank dropped in, after months of silence only to tell her he was leaving New York and that he wanted to see her before he left. Despite her shock, Karen accepted his leaving and agreed to his request. They spent the day at the park then went to Karen’s favorite Mexican restaurant. They parted ways and that was suppose to be the end of it. Frank would go to his family’s graves in the morning, say goodbye and be gone.

But she woke up this morning, and found that he filled her thoughts. Despite spending the day together so much was still left unsaid. All last night she kept fighting the need to grab his hand and demand that he admit that the thing that was between them was in fact real and not one sided. But it was too late for all that. If only she had listened to her brain telling her to let him go.

Instead she got into a cab and followed him there. She caught him by surprise but he didn’t send her away. They said goodbye to his family, walked around the neighborhood, then finally stopped at the house. Well the house wasn’t there anymore, the debris was cleared away but now it was a plot of land. Frank gripped the metal fence and his jaw clenched.

The invite was spur of the moment, and Karen regretted it when he turned to her. His eyes, dark and shiny, were stoic at first. Then his features softened, and he said yes. They arranged everything in a few sentences and took separate cabs back to the city.

As Karen cleared off the island in her kitchen of her work files and laptop, she kept trying to tell herself that nothing was gonna happen. Nothing had to happen, she could suppress these feelings. She would do it for his sake, everything could stay under the surface. He didn’t need this and she sure as hell didn’t need it either.

His knock interrupted this thought process and she mentally kicked herself for running to the door and unfastening the locks at lightening speed. And there he was in a white button down, jeans and his combat boots. Fortunately Frank didn’t take offense for her lingering gaze cause well, he was reciprocating. She had on the red dress she wore when he was taken to prison but he was still looking at her like she was something holy. Wordlessly he walked in, and she closed the door behind her. Karen had locked the last lock when he finally spoke.

“You’re beautiful, Karen. God do you know that?”

She turned and sheepishly smiled. He smirked and let out a chuckle. Thank God he laughed, it broke the tension and Karen relaxed.

“How did I get here?”

“I don’t know. Has this ever happened with anyone else…”

“No, never. Just Maria. I never thought I would want anyone else after I lost her. And I tried to leave Karen, you saw that. I never should’ve let it get this far…”

“So you don’t want…”

“No, no. This is different. I wanted to see you. I wanted to spend the day in the park with you. I wanted to go to that restaurant. Hell when you showed up this morning, I…”

They were face to face now, their hands on each other’s forearms. Goosebumps appeared and only then did Karen realize that her breathing had become shallowed.

“So never this far?”

“Never. I would’ve never came in. Never drank the coffee. Never said yes to dinner. Never come back the next night. Never get this close. Never touch your arm…”

His mouth was inches from hers. Who was Karen kidding, this evening was a long time coming and they both knew it.

“And I never would’ve done this.”

And then it was happening. It was everything she thought it would be. And yet that heady feeling felt glorious. He was slow and patient with his kisses, he could honestly drag Karen anywhere with them. He pulled away and buried himself into her neck.

“I understand.”

Suddenly he was backing away to the door and she turned to grip the edge of the island.

“We should stop this, I don’t need this and neither do you…”

“Yes.”

“I can get my things, be gone…”

She turned around to tell him no, to grab his face and not let it go. Luckily he had the same idea and they crashed into each other. He pushed her against the sink, slammed his one hand on it and held her by her waist with the other. Her hands roamed around his face, neck, shoulders. She felt selfish but he held her up, allowing her to explore with abandon. She gripped the collar of his shirt, all too willing to rip it off when her phone rang. They broke apart and Frank was back at the door.

“Hello?” Karen answered not trying to hide her breathlessness.

“Hey Kare! How’s your vacation going?”

_Damn it Foggy._

“Yup I’m fine. Just watching TV, lounging around. I’ve pretty much been doing that all this time.”

“Well that’s good. So Hogarth doesn’t have me on call tomorrow which means brunch at Josie’s. What do you say?”

“Josie’s does brunch?”

“Oh yeah, we’ll have to pick the fruit out of our drinks but hey any excuse to day drink.”

“Oh that sounds great Foggy but I actually have plans tomorrow…”

Karen felt hands on her waist and lips on the curve of her neck.

“You do? Come on at least one Bloody Mary…”

“I’m sorry I was going to drive up to Vermont for a day trip.”

“Oh for what?”

“Change of scenery, fresh air…”

“That’s where you grew up right? Are you seeing your parents?”

“Hey Foggy I have to go my bath is getting cold. Thank you though for checking in and for the invite. Next time definitely.”

“Okay well I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation.”

“Thank you.”

As Karen hung up, Frank stopped his hands at her shoulders. He had been lazily stroking her arms the entire time which was distracting as hell. It took all of Karen’s will power to sound as normal as possible while also not rudely hanging up.

“So Vermont?”

“I was thinking about it. I should go, it’s been too long. I’d ask you to come but I know…”

“I’ll go with you.”

He was looking at her softly and yes this was all a bad idea. But as her eyes dropped to his lips she couldn’t think of much else. No, it had to end here. That one fleeting moment could be enough.

“Are you still hungry? I don’t have much but I can make pasta at least. Or we could order in…”

“Right now I want to dance. With you.”

Frank headed over to the coffee table and opened Karen’s laptop. A minute later, _Stand By Me_ was playing softly from the adequate speakers. He walked back and held out his hand. Karen accepted it, ignoring her newly made promise to keep things as relatively uncomplicated as possible.  
It was formal at first, his hand on her back and her hand on his shoulder, their other hands palm to palm.

 _So darling, darling_  
_Stand by me, oh stand by me_  
_Oh stand, stand by me_  
_Stand by me_

The song continued and slowly Karen’s hand moved from his shoulder to his neck. His hand slid down to her waist. She pressed her nose into his shirt and breathed him in, he smelled of aftershave mixed with sweat. She felt his cheek lean against her head as he brought their clasped hands to his chest. She looked up and well, shit. She pulled on his neck and their lips met. His hand cradled her face and their heavy breathing filled Karen’s ears, drowning out the song. They continued their dance long after the song ended.

“Karen…”

“Frank.”

“I have to…”

“No, don’t say anything. Whatever this is, let’s just let it be what it is. I just want you. As you are.”

“Just let me say this, please. This’ll probably sound batshit in the morning but ever since the day my family… I’ve just been looking for something that felt like a home. Ever since that day I feel like I’ve been falling. Then I meet you and it hit me. You’re what I’ve been falling to Karen, all my life I’ve been falling into you…”

Frank didn’t finish his thought but instead pulled her into a kiss. This time it was not slow at all but that was fine. His lips were now like the screen door of Karen’s childhood home, all teeth and swinging. Frank moved from her lips to her neck as Karen moved her fingers into his hair. He pulled back and they looked at each other. Karen took Frank’s hands and pulled him into her bedroom.

**Author's Note:**

> The outline in question is linked below:
> 
> https://goddamnitkastle.tumblr.com/post/150059057428/the-bridges-of-madison-countykastle-au-outline


End file.
